In the end, READING THE ROMANCE argues that romance reading is a profoundly conflicted activity centered upon a profoundly conflicted form....[W]omen's romance reading is "as much a measure of their deep dissatisfaction with heterosexual options as of any desire to be fully identified with the submissive versions of femininity the texts endorse. Romance imagines peace, security and ease precisely because there is dissension, insecurity and difficulty."

From the Publisher:Originally published in 1984, Reading The Romance challenges popular (and often demeaning) myths about why romantic fiction, one of publishing's most lucrative categories, captivates millions of women readers. In a new introduction, Janice Radway places the book within the context of current scholarship and offers both an explanation and critique of the study's limitations.

Annotation:Originally published in 1984, this scholarly analysis of romance fiction includes a new introduction by Duke University professor Janice A. Radway. It argues that while romance fiction is one of the most lucrative forms of literature in this country, it is also probably the most reflective genre of the modern woman.